Gaumont has already scored a raft of pre-sales on two highlights of its slate, “Just an Illusion,” Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano‘s (“The Intouchables”) coming-of-age film, and “Rays and Shadows” by Xavier Giannoli (“Of Money and Blood”), a €30 million WWII-set drama.
Gaumont will host exclusive market screenings for both anticipated movies at the European Film Market in Berlin next week.
“Rays and Shadows” is set in Paris during the 1940’s and explores the moral compromises of French high society during the Occupation through the intertwined fates of journalist Jean Luchaire and his daughter Corinne, a rising movie star once hailed as the “French Garbo.”
Oscar-winning French actor Jean Dujardin (“The Artist,” “An Officer and a Spy”) stars as Luchaire, who rises to become a powerful press baron under the protection of Nazi ambassador Otto Abetz, ultimately helping to pave the way for collaboration between France and the Nazi regime, propelling Corinne into an opulent, yet perilous world of deception. Dujardin stars opposite August Diehl (“A Hidden Life,” “Disappearance”) and Nastya Golubeva (“Paris Memories”).
The movie has pre-sold to Australia (Palace), Spain (A Contracorriente), Italy (Rai Cinema / I Wonder Pictures), Benelux (Cineart), Poland (Monolith), Romania (Independenta), ex-Yugoslavia (MCF), Baltics (ACME), Switzerland (Pathé), Portugal (Alambique) and Greece (Spentzos).
Gaumont is producing alongside Curiosa Films (“The Taste of Things,” “Lost Illusions”) and Waiting for Cinéma (“Barbara”) and is handling international sales. The French studio will also handle the theatrical release on March 18.
The project marks Giannoli’s return to prestige historical drama following the success of “Lost Illusions” which bowed in competition at the Venice Film Festival and went on to win seven César Awards, including best film.
In his director’s statement, Xavier Giannoli says he wanted to make a film “that dares to examine evil,” looking Corinne Luchaire and her father “in the eye, with no indulgence and no reassuring judgments.” Giannoli also describes Jean Luchaire as a man convinced of his destiny as a press magnate, “trying to forget that it was all a sham — but at what price?” Rejecting romanticism or easy moral framing, he adds, “We do not intend to judge or absolve. But we do want to trigger another attitude on the part of the audience, via the narrative strength and terrible violence of this story.” Giannoli also points to a Paris of the Occupation rarely depicted on screen – “opulent feasts under the bright lights of the German embassy, with famous actors, writers and journalists” — and suggests the film has a contemporary resonance, “Asking, what would I have done back then? Because whether powerful or abject, History will not release us from its grip.”
“Rays and Shadows” reunites Giannoli with key collaborators on “Lost Illusions,” including co-writer Jacques Fieschi, cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne and production designer Riton Dupire-Clément, as well as costume designer Pascaline Chavanne (“An Officer and a Spy,” “Renoir”).
“Just an Illusion” starts off in 1985 as Vincent, about to turn 13, lives in the suburbs of Paris with his middle-class family, caught between an older brother who brushes him off and parents who never stop arguing. On the cusp of adolescence, Vincent starts questioning his identity, friendships and family, while experiencing his first crushes.
Nakache and Toledano stand out as one of France’s most beloved filmmaking duos with credits including the global smash hit “The Intouchables,” which grossed $426 million worldwide; as well as “C’est la vie” and “The Specials.”
For “Just an Illusion,” the Paris-based directors have assembled a strong cast, including Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”), Louis Garrel (“Coutures”) and Pierre Lottin (“The Stranger”).
“Just an Illusion” has already pre-sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Germany (Weltkino), Canada (TVA), Benelux (Cineart), Switzerland (Pathé), Poland (Monolith), Portugal (Cinemundo), Israel (Lev), ex-Yugoslavia (Karantanija) and airlines (Skeye).
The duo said the film stemmed from their wish to make a film about adolescence set in the 1980’s because “it was a creative, bustling decade.”
“Our characters hang out at video clubs, tune in to free radios, discover the new TV channels, and find their feet in a world filled with injustice and revolt, yet one to which music brings a new kind of energy.”
Budgeted at €15.5 million, the movie is produced by Quad Films and Ten Cinema, who’ve previously teamed on “A Difficult Year,” “C’est la vie” and “The Specials.”
“Just an Illusion” boasts a key crew including Augustin Barbaroux (“And Their Children After Them”) and set designer Jean Rabasse (“Jackie”). Gaumont will release the film in France on April 15.
Gaumont is rolling off a banner year with Olivier Assayas’s “The Wizard of the Kremlin” starring Jude Law as a fictionalized Vladimir Putin opposite Paul Dano as his mysterious strategist Vladislav; and François Ozon’s “The Stranger,” the adaptation of Albert Camus’s classic novel, starring rising stars Benjamin Voisin and Rebecca Marder. Both films premiered in competition at last year’s Venice. “The Stranger,” which won several Lumières prizes in France and is nominated for four Cesar Awards, will have its New York premiere on opening night of The Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, co-organized by Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center.